In vehicles with passive wheels driven by a conventional electric motor, and powered by a hybrid internal combustion engine (ICE), electricity generator battery or, even more recently, fuel cells, the electrical energy available for the application is typically limited.
Also, with the existing technology, the weight of the vehicle body, the electrical energy storage/generation, and the related drive train heavily influences the duration or the total distance that user can travel with one single xe2x80x9cre-fuelxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cre-chargexe2x80x9d.
The fossil fuel internal combustion engine has long being tagged as the primary source of environmental pollution. Present time human achievements have been seriously threatened by a situation as the global warming, as is becoming more apparent due to the frequency of xe2x80x9cEl Nixc3x1oxe2x80x9d and other climate changes. Although different technology has been developed since the first oil crisis, concern about the extinction of precious global resources has recently sped up the development of electrical vehicle (EV). Different technology combinations have been in trial for such a long time that we finally can see some EVs becoming commercially available.
However, the existing electrical motor design has limited the basic design approach that is used. A gear box and power drive train for converting the energy generated by the electrical motor into mechanical driving force is typical in an EV design. The improvement of the total distance that can be traveled with existing electrical motors and drive train technology is seriously limited. The complexity involved with the existing drive train and motor design makes it a target for improvement. Nevertheless, although some novel motor designs (FIG. 10-2) have been proposed that can be used as part of the wheel in a HPV (human power vehicle) so that the extra drive train can be eliminated, it has heretofore been impractical to eliminate the drive train in an EV.
Powerful, efficient and yet robust technology is required for EV applications, since EVs are to be used in the same environment as the existing ICE vehicles. It is the objective of this invention to improve such a situation with a solid robust motor design that can be built as part of the wheel structure module of the existing ICE vehicle design. With such an active propelling wheel drive, the design can be easily implemented on any vehicle. As indicated via one embodiment of the prior art as shown in FIG. 10-1, the concept of a clutch device that can be used in a drive train can be applied together with the embodiment of the present invention. The conventional gear box and drive train can be completely re-designed. The total weight of a vehicle can be greatly reduced and superior drive efficiency can easily be implemented with the digital electronic technology that is available now.
The Flat Induction Motor (FIM) mentioned herein is a compact, flat induction motor offering a unique capability for load propulsion. It is an application of the technology developed for the electromagnetic launcher designed to accelerate projectiles. Pairs of closely spaced electrical coil windings, installed and firmly fixed on the vehicle structure, straddle a segmented core block. The current is pulsed as the coils cross an edge of one segment of the core block. This induces surface currents that repel the core block so that, in essence, the pulsed coils push off the segment edges.
When applied as an electromagnetic propulsion system for parts of an apparatus, such as the active wheels of a vehicle, the apparatus has less weight to be driven by the electrical energy that is available, electromagnetic braking can be used, and, relieved of the need to transmit power through drive train traction, the vehicle can be designed to provide more mileage per xe2x80x9cre-fuelxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cRE-CHARGINGxe2x80x9d.